Happy Birthday to Ween's Dean Ween! Crack Some Pepper on This Boognish Mollusk

Surely the most exciting thing a musician can brag about is fame and fortune and the throngs of groupies encountered through a muddled haze of drugs and alcohol. Right? Well, sure, why not, it's part of the lore. But there are musicians who thrive in a quasi-obscurity that inspires a margin of the mainstream to concoct an enduring folklore. That cult status builds myths of influence and devoted followings.

Ween, from its inception in 1984 to its termination this year, was nothing short of a musician's band. Under an umbrella of "alternative rock" that touched upon, well, pretty much every other type of rock, Dean Ween's influence on music today is undeniable.

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Born in New Hope, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 1970, Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo Jr. already had a name befitting stardom. But in true Ramones fashion, he's been more than willing to assume surnames with band members for the sake of confusion.

Teaming up with childhood pal Aaron Freeman in 1984, they launched a three-decade streak of incredibly awesome music that was so progressive and ahead of its time that the band has been relegated mostly and incorrectly as a "joke" band.

Sure, joke band... But the joke's on the detractors. As you can see in one of the links above to a piece dating back to 2008, Ween is still better than a lot of bands out there. That's no easy task, and surely, it was one achieved through a very firm sense of tongue-in-cheek.

Or maybe you'd need to be aurally massaged by his work with Guy Heller in the Moistboyz? This was a decidedly more "family friendly" affair and one good at showing the multifaceted skills of this vocalist and guitarist.

Dean's collabos don't end just there, and keep in mind that most of his long-running associations were devoid of the primadona-ness that usually makes outfits of this caliber implode. He's done work with Pigface, Yoko Ono, the Rollins Band, and quite famously with the Queens of the Stone Age.

Things always work out better here when we let the music speak, so enjoy some tracks, and enjoy them loud!

Moistboyz - "I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass"

Ween - "Push th' Little Daisies"

Ween - "On the Beach"

Queens of the Stone Age - "Mosquito Song"

Ween - "Alcan Road"

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